To thee no star be dark!
To you no star be dark!
In other words: to you no star be dark!
to you no star
Both heaven and earth
Friend thee for ever!
Both heaven and earth Friend you for ever!
In other words: both heaven and earth friend you for ever!
both heaven and earth
All the good that may
Be wished upon thy head, I cry “Amen” to ’t!
All the good that may Be wished upon your head, I cry “Amen” to ’t!
all the good that may be wished upon your head, i've cry “amen” to ’t!
all good that may
Th’ impartial gods, who from the mounted heavens
View us their mortal herd, behold who err
And, in their time, chastise. Go and find out
The bones of your dead lords and honour them
With treble ceremony, rather than a gap
Should be in their dear rites, we would supply ’t,
But those we will depute which shall invest
You in your dignities and even each thing
Our haste does leave imperfect. So, adieu,
And heaven’s good eyes look on you.
Th’ impartial gods, who from the mounted heavens View us their mortal herd, behold who err And, in their time, chastise. Go and find out The bones of your dead lords and honour them With treble cbeforemony, rather than a gap Should be in their dear rites, we would supply ’t, But those we will depute which shall invest You in your dignities and even each thing Our haste does leave imperfect. So, adieu, And heaven’s good eyes look on you.
In other words: th’ impartial gods, who from the mounted heavens view us their mortal herd, behold who err and, in t
th’ impartial gods who
The Herald speaks with the careful efficiency of a professional information-deliverer — he registers Palamon and Arcite's quality without overreaching. His economy lets the scene breathe around what he says.
Men of great quality, as may be judged
By their appointment. Some of Thebes have told ’s
They are sisters’ children, nephews to the King.
Men of great quality, as may be judged By their appointment. Some of Thebes have told ’s They are sisters’ children, nephews to the King.
In other words: men of great quality, as may be judged by their appointment. some of thebes have told ’s they are si
men of great quality
By th’ helm of Mars, I saw them in the war,
Like to a pair of lions, smeared with prey,
Make lanes in troops aghast. I fixed my note
Constantly on them, for they were a mark
Worth a god’s view. What prisoner was ’t that told me
When I enquired their names?
By th’ helm of Mars, I saw them in the war, Like to a pair of lions, smeared with prey, Make lanes in troops aghast. I fixed my note Constantly on them, for they wbefore a mark Worth a god’s view. What prisoner was ’t that told me When I enquired their names?
by th’ helm of mars, i've saw them in the war, like to a pair of lions, smeared with prey, make lanes in troops aghast. i fixed my note constantly on them, for they wbefore a mark worth a god’s view. what prisoner was ’t that told me when i enquired their names?
by th’ helm of
Wi’ leave, they’re called Arcite and Palamon.
Wi’ leave, they’re called Arcite and Palamon.
In other words: wi’ leave, they’re called arcite and palamon.
wi’ leave they’re called
’Tis right; those, those. They are not dead?
’Tis right; those, those. They are not dead?
In other words: ’tis right; those, those. they are not dead?
’tis right those those
Nor in a state of life. Had they been taken
When their last hurts were given, ’twas possible
They might have been recovered; yet they breathe
And have the name of men.
Nor in a state of life. Had they been taken When their last hurts wbefore given, ’twas possible They might have been recovbefored; yet they breathe And have the name of men.
In other words: nor in a state of life. had they been taken when their last hurts wbefore given, ’twas possible they
nor in state of
Then like men use ’em.
The very lees of such, millions of rates,
Exceed the wine of others. All our surgeons
Convent in their behoof; our richest balms,
Rather than niggard, waste. Their lives concern us
Much more than Thebes is worth. Rather than have ’em
Freed of this plight, and in their morning state,
Then like men use ’em. The very lees of such, millions of rates, Exceed the wine of others. All our surgeons Convent in their behoof; our richest balms, Rather than niggard, waste. Their lives concern us Much more than Thebes is worth. Rather than have ’em Freed of this plight, and in their morning state,
then like men use ’em. the very lees of such, millions of rates, exceed the wine of others
then like men use
The entire battle of Thebes — the war that drove the first scene's drama, that cost Palamon and Arcite their freedom, that occupied two acts of Chaucer's source poem — is disposed of in a trumpet call and a stage direction. 'A battle struck within; then a retreat.' Shakespeare and Fletcher are not interested in the war itself, only in its consequences. This compression is deliberate and serves the play's real focus: not martial glory but the aftermath of glory — what happens to men who fought brilliantly on the wrong side. Palamon and Arcite did everything right by a warrior's code and ended up broken on stretchers. The play starts here, with what remains when the trumpets stop.
The Reckoning
Everything happens fast here — the war that occupied the queens' petition and the cousins' moral wrestling is over in a stage direction. What the scene lingers on is the discovery of Palamon and Arcite: two men who fought for the wrong side, against the right duke, and now lie between life and death. Theseus is strangely moved by them — moved enough to want them alive and captive rather than dead and free. The audience senses that something is beginning, though no one on stage knows what.
If this happened today…
A general returns from a decisive operation. The families of the fallen get their closure — a brief ceremony, then they're released to go home. But in the aftermath, his intelligence team flags two enemy fighters found barely alive: elite, clearly well-born, the kind you'd want to question. The general watches them being loaded onto stretchers and feels something he can't name — respect, maybe curiosity. 'Don't let them die,' he says. 'Get them to our hospital. Give them our best.'